ShapeShifter's Salute
by Ififall
Summary: Tommy survived his beating without V and is struggling to survive. An Army veteran is on his side but for how long? Can Tommy hide away from Sam forever?


A/N: Slash, Swearing, Adult language, Adult themes with violence. Featuring Jack from Emmerdale and Sergeant James from "The Hurt locker"

Everytime it was taken away from him, he'd felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. He felt useless, selfish because he wanted it back, angry because he wanted to be fearless, he wanted to be depended on. The Army had given him a purpose. A reason to wake up in the morning. Now that was gone. He'd been to Bon Temps before and didn't think much of it. A dusty shithole with human wildlife, he didn't mind being around it, as long as it didn't interfere with his own business.

His father had always warned him against taking risks. He rarely saw his parents on active duty, he was too embarrased to tell them what had happened. Why he'd given up on Army life or more accurately how the Army life had given up on him. It made his blood boil just thinking about it. That's why he always had to put a brave face on. It stopped him from feeling washed up every second of every day. That feeling of rejection never went away.

"Mr James we can show you the site straight away if you want" Jack said. Jack was a builder that Will had employed for the job. Jack worked hard, he was always the first one to arrive for work and the last one to leave. "I'll meet you at twenty two hundred hours" Will said. "It'll be late, so you may as well take a break now" Will said. Jack nodded and got back into his van. Will stayed on the site a while. The dry dust and the empty silence reminded him of Cairo, where he was last stationed. The withdrawal symptoms were getting to him, maybe Jack could help take his mind off things?

Will went back home trying to call his ex. She was so beautiful, but he truthfully didn't miss her. His parents loved her and still kept in touch. Will had a suspicion that his parents called her more than they called him, but he kept that conspiracy theory to himself. Will changed from a shirt and jeans to slacks, a T-shirt and a jumper. Then drove to the site in the dark. Jack was already there, torch in hand. "The spades over there mate" Jack said as the torch pointed in the spades direction. "Great time to get this baby out" Will said as he walked seven feet away and started digging.

He was trying to find a infared explosive device that could only be seen in the dark. That's what had put customers off from buying this site in the first place, but Will was open to the danger, he welcomed it, this had been his job once upon a time. He stuck his spade into the ground digging and twisted the spade flicking dust everywhere. Will could feel something and dug deeper into the rocks with excitement. Finally he could see flashing lights. "That's it...come to Daddy" Will said as he bent down to pick up the square object with his hands. "Mate...can you get over here?" He heard Jack ask.

"Jack what?" Will yelled. "It's just...you need to see this" Jack said. Will turned around, swore and threw the spade down. He could see Jack's torch spinning around to get his attention. He walked over as Jack's torch shone over the blood. "What the fuck?" Will said wiping his sweaty fringe out of his face. "Jack call an ambulance" "But I..." Jack said. "Just get out your fucking phone" Will said as he shooed Jack further away from the device he'd just dug up. Will crouched over the body Jack had found. In the dark he guessed it was male, he was slim, clothed. Will walked around him to try to see his face.

"Fuck you...get the fuck away" The body yelled. Will backed away and landed on his ass. "Fuck, help's coming soon" "Fuck you" The body yelled again. Jack came back from the call saying that the ambulance was coming in a few minutes. "You OK mate?" Jack asked. "Not really" The body said. Will stared at the body in shock. Jack talked to the body with mindless chatter until the ambulance came. "What's your name?" One of the paramedics asked Will when they got there. "I...umm..." "Jack leaned next to the body while it whispered in Jack's ear. "It's Tommy" Jack said.

"Right...Hello Tommy, were gonna take you to the hospital, lay still OK?" One of the paramedics asked. Jack and Will wanted to help, but both of them stood to the side as the Paramedics but this "Tommy" in a stretcher and into the back of the ambulance. "I'm gonna go with him" Jack said to Will quietly while the paramedics were strapping Tommy in. "You're not related" Will said. "He needs someone Will. You mind driving my van? I'll pick it up from yours" Jack said. Will didn't wanna come across as an insensitive ass, so he did what Jack had said.

The next morning Will tried to dig up the device that he'd found last night, but it had gone. When Jack came to the site to work, Will asked him if he'd seen it. "Mate, you know I was at the hospital" Jack said. "How's your patient?" Will asked. "Hurt mate, near death's door, lucky we got him when we did" "Good" Will said about to walk away for another look to find the device. Maybe he was losing his mind, maybe the device was really on the site. "He wants to see you" Jack said. "To say thanks" "Ahh...I'll pass" Will said as he dug the spade in the ground. "Why?" Jack asked.

"Tommy said he hasn't got any family, you may as well go" Jack said. "Jack can you pick up a fucking spade and do some Goddamn work" Will said. He stayed away from Jack until he knew some asshole had taken the device. He left Jack alone and drove off without so much as a thanks. Will stayed at home Watching TV, cleaning the dishes sorting out his DVD collection, he looked at the clock and thought that a quick visit to the hospital wouldn't hurt. He was partially doing this to impress Jack so they could swap stories but a part of him wanted to know what this human roadkill had to say for himself.

One of the reasons Will had been so reluctant was because the last time he'd been in a hospital it wasn't a pleasant experience. He'd been to see Eldridge. Yes, he'd had a lot of nerve. Eldridge didn't want to see him and Will knew that Eldridge's family wanted Will as far away from him as humanly possible, but Will couldn't stop himself. He went to apologise. He'd already said sorry, but that was shouted to Eldridge when Eldridge was on a helicopter. The only reason Will could sleep at night was because he wasn't sure if his bullet had injured him.

He went to visit Eldridge in Army uniform to look official, but the "specialist" could see right through him. Eldridge told him to piss off, or he'd call security. Not one of Will's highlights, but he'd make it up to Eldridge somehow. As he stepped into the hospital he took a deep breath and walked to reception. The secretary said that Tommy was resting, but she'd get a nurse to escort him. Will really wanted to pull the "Sergeant card" But he couldn't now he wasn't a Sergeant or a Soldier. He had no idea what he was.

"He's in here" The nurse said as she pulled the curtian back. Jack was right, Tommy looked like he'd been hit with a truck, then a bus, then pissed on by a Badger. The nurse excused herself as Will walked over to his bed. Tommy was breathing softly. Will couldn't tell if his eyes were open. Dried blood was on his cheeks and blue and purple bruising almost made his eyes impossible to see. "I'll make this quick" Will said. "I just wanted to see if you're OK" "I'm cool" Tommy said trying to lean up but Will stopped him. "If you know who did this to you, you should tell the police" Will said.

"Hah" Tommy chortled as blood-drops sprayed out on Tommy's crisp clear white sheets.

"You need any help finding them Tommy I can, I will, just say the word" Will said turning around about to take one step towards home.

"Hey" Tommy said leaning up further. Will turned around and waved at Tommy to stay still.

"Help me" Tommy said reaching for his hand.

Will stayed away from Tommy's hand but lightly patted him on the head. Will leaned in so close to Tommy that he could feel the kid's breath on his cheek. He'd ask the nurse to clear up the blood later, it was probably scaring Tommy.

"Calm down buddy, how can I help?" Will asked.

"Kill me..._please_" Tommy asked.


End file.
